Los Angeles Attorney Case Wins
Discover some of The Kopple Law Group’s notable case decisions below.
$6,897,000: Frank v. Gaslamp
A jury awarded $6.9 million to college student, Ken Frank, after a security guard punched him in the head. The total medical bills in this case were $23,000. This jury award was a retrial after the first trial hung and defense offered a waiver of costs defense.
$1,500,000: Sexual Harassment / Assault
A major retailer paid approximately $1.5M to our client, who alleged that she had been sexually assaulted by her supervisor. Unfortunately, there was no direct evidence to prove the assault because like many survivors of sexual assault, our client did not tell anybody about the incident for several months. The supervisor denied the assault and claimed a consensual relationship.
But we were able to blow apart the supervisor’s claim by deposing co-workers and carefully examining the phone records, text messages and work schedules. Our client was relieved not to have to relive this matter at trial. And now she has resources to get treatment and move forward.
$1,075,000: Cohen v. Mohan
A trip and fall in a dark parking lot settled for over $1,000,000. Our client was a woman in her 60’s, who was driving from Las Vegas to Los Angeles and stopped off in a small town to get coffee. From the coffee shop’s parking lot, she saw a nearby hotel, and decided to stop and spend the night. While walking from the parking lot to the hotel she tripped, fell and broke the upper part of her femur. According to the property owner, the parking lot’s lights had been out for over a year. Our safety expert measured the lighting, under similar conditions, establishing that the visibility conditions fell below both the city code regulations and the standard of care. The darkness prevented our client from noticing an unusual and dangerous drop in elevation between the parking lot and the hotel property.
$900,000: Pregnancy Discrimination
Our client was fired after complaining that her supervisor was harassing her due to being pregnant. This is the second employment case that we settled for $900,000 that year.
Pregnancy Discrimination: Edwards v. JKRSI
A jury found that JKRSI retaliated against Debbie Edwards for taking pregnancy leave. They also found that the company should be held liable for punitive damages. The defense settled the case on confidential terms 15 minutes before the punitive damages phase.
$1,800,000: Barnett v. Superior Grocers
A jury awarded $1.8M Theresa Barnett after she suffered a knee injury after slipping and fall. Defense rejected an prior counsel’s offer of $100,000.
$215,000: Lawrence v. Mataele
A repeat drunk driver caused a motor vehicle collision with our clients on the 405 freeway. The jury awarded compensatory damages and then awarded punitive damages against the driver to deter her from driving drunk again. Our clients were left with some chronic pain but thankfully were not severely injured: one had $3,800 in past medical expenses and the other $15,000.
$2,750,000: Trip and Fall
Our client recently settled her trip and fall case for $2,750,000. She fell on private property when she missed a step that was concealed by dark shadows. The property manager had ignored earlier requests to improve the lighting for years.
After our client suffered permanent lifetime injuries, the owner installed proper lighting that complied with California law, which would have prevented this disaster. Although the defense blamed our client for her fall and denied that they had acted unsafely, we were able to reconstruct the lightning conditions to show the violation of law and defeat their experts’ excuses.
The defense also challenged that our client was not as hurt as the medical records showed. But we were able to establish the permanent pain and disability our client suffered by deposing the unbiased, treating doctors, who testified about the impact and reduced quality of life.
Her settlement will go toward her future medical expenses and toward education and career training opportunities she might not have had before.
$797,250: Lopez v. Crimestoppers Services, Inc.
A nightclub settled a negligent security case for $797,250. Our client was a customer at the nightclub when another customer assaulted him with a metal baton (nightstick).
The evidence showed that the nightstick was brought to the nightclub by one of the security guards, who claimed to have misplaced it. The guard was also unlicensed and was working illegally as a security guard on the night in question.
$615,000: Pregnancy Discrimination
Our client was fired by her employer after she revealed that she was pregnant. We sued and fought for her. Defense settled the case.
$600,000: Broken Ankle from Slip and Fall
Our client broke her ankle (trimalleolar fracture) when she was in a store in Los Angeles. Even after surgery, it hurt to walk and impaired the things she could do in life.
$400,000: Fraternity Attacks Bystander
Our client, “Matthew,” was visiting a local Southern California university with a friend when they were assaulted by some frat guys. Matthew and his friend were walking down fraternity row when these guys called out a homophobic slur. Matthew said something back and one of the frat guys ran down, kicked him in the back and then punched him in the eye. Then some of the other frat guys joined in the assault.
Matthew suffered an orbital fracture. As a result, Matthew suffers permanent diplopia (double vision) in his right eye but only when his right eye tracked toward the right side.
The fraternity tried to dodge liability in every way, arguing that Matthew started the fight or that the main fraternity member was acting on his own. After our investigation, we uncovered that the fraternity had a history of allowing bad behavior, including prior violence, assault and alcohol abuse to go unchecked.
In the end, the fraternity settled with Matthew for $400,000.
